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Monday, March 19, 2018

You couldn't make it up (as they say) in the same spirit of the Brexit vote and the interference from multimillion air MAp's who are speaking a second referendum, the second 'Oxford Street Pedestrianisation' is to be reopened...

Will they just keep reopening until they get the result they want....or like in the pas just do what hey want to do regardless???

The Better Oxford Street Twitter account announced today:-

Oxford Street Consultation Reopens after TfL error "because we published this address, by error, on our consultation web page as one method of submitting a response. We apologise unreservedly for this."

Reopened because the result didn’t go the right way (for them)... stop wasting time and money because we all know what’ll happen regardless of the consultation....

Mumbai: The transport wing of the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena has called for a strike of drivers of cab aggregators Uber and Ola starting from today.

The strike has been called by the Maharashtra Navnirman Vahtuk Sena which has claimed that several drivers are not being able to cover costs due to falling business.

"Ola and Uber had given big assurances to the drivers, but today they are unable to cover their costs. They have investedRs.5-7 lakh and were expecting to makeRs.1.5 lakh a month. But drivers are unable to make even half of this because of the mismanagement by these companies," Sanjay Naik of Maharashtra Navnirman Vahatuk Sena told PTI.

Union leaders said thatdrivers in other cities like New Delhi, Bengaluru, Hyderabad and Pune among others would also be participating in the strike.

Mr Naik further alleged that these taxi-hailing companies were giving first priority to company-owned cars rather than driver-owned vehicles, causing a slump in their business.

Other taxi unions, including the Mumbai Taximen's Union, have extended support.

Meanwhile, police has issued notices to leaders of the union under section 149 of CrPC relating to unlawful assembly.

"Notices of section 149 of CrPC have been issued to Sanjay Naik, president, Arif Shaikh and Nitin Nandgaokar of the Maharashtra Navnirman Vahatuk Sena as preventive action.

If they violate any orders, they are liable to be prosecuted," said Pandit Thorat, senior inspector of the Andheri police station.

In Mumbai alone there are over 45,000 such cabs but a slump in business has seen a drop of about 20 per cent in their numbers.

The cab hailing companies have so far stayed away from interfering in the matter. "We have been informed by the Mumbai Police that they have proactively taken all the necessary steps to ensure safety of commuters during the cab rides in the city," an Ola spokesperson said.

Now you've been shown the evidence, that UberBV have been (and still are) operating in London without an operators Licence, why have you not ordered them to cease operating with immediate effect?

Was this not your reaction when you found Taxify operating without a Licence in their name?

What makes UberBV different to Taxify?

After all Mike, you said you wanted it to go on record that you had nothing to do with the initial licensing of Uber!!!

Perhaps you would also like to be seen by your actions as having nothing to do with the UberBV cover up?

Over the past 10 days, thanks to Tim Fenton's 'Zelo Street' blog, it's become clear that UberBV has been operating in London since 2012, as a Private Hire operator, through a smart phone instant hail app, without holding a TfL Private Hire operators licence.

We now know this to be fact!

We also have evidence that TfL knew this was the case as long ago as 2013.

CLIFF LLEWELYN INFORMED:-

SIWAN HAYWARD, SIMON BUGGEY AND SONIA ALLMAN IN DECEMBER 2013.

Cliff Llewellyn centre with glasses.

According to Tim Fenton, Cliff Llewellyn wrote to Uber London boss Jo Bertram in December 2013 and listed compliance issues that, “require your urgent attention”. These allegedly included:

Clarification of the legal entity between Uber BV and Uber London Limited.

Which company will be making the provision, acceptance and the undertaking of PHV bookings, once Point (1) has been addressed?

Review of the Uber website to reflect the London legislation.

The charging of a fare using a Time x Distance device which is in contravention of the 1998 Act

Review of your sub-contraing processes to reflect that all bookings go through the sub-contactor and not directly to the driver.

Tim Fenton said Mr Llewellyn’s deadline for Uber to take action, December 23 2013, came and went without any compliance issues being addressed, even though his report concluded: “If they (Uber) fail to comply within a reasonable time period, then enforcement action is the only option.”

What happened next?

According to Tim Fenton: “Uber by-passed Cliff Llewellyn, went to the Foreign Office, who went to Downing Street, who roped in the Department for Trade, who appear to have put the arm on TfL’s top brass to let Uber carry on anyway”.

To this day, TfL have said and done nothing with the evidence they've had all along!

Even though they knew, all Uber's Journeys were initially booked and dispatched directly to drivers, by the unlicensed UberBV, they pushed regulation and public safety aside and allowed this modus operandi to continue regardless.

The facts are now out in the open, posted on numerous Taxi and PH sites and publications. Virtually everyone in our trades know what's been going on:-

EVERY JOURNEY ON THE UBER LONDON PLATFORM PASSED AND PRESENT, HAS BEEN ILLEGALLY DISPATCHED WITH TFL'S BLESSING.

Not only that, TfL have the evidence that it's the drivers who accept the bookings, direct in vehicle in contravention of the PH Vehicles Act 1998.

So Mike, why as Commisioner of TfL have you not acted immediately, on the information given to you?

(Reuters) - Istanbul's taxi drivers have taken Uber to court, accusing the U.S.-based ride-hailing app of endangering their livelihoods in a case that could crimp its business in Europe's largest city.

It is the latest instance of court action, restrictions, bans and protests around the world over Uber's high-tech, low-cost challenge to traditional taxi services. Uber was forced to shut down in Denmark and Hungary and has suspended operations in Morocco while it gets in line with local laws.

Hundreds of Istanbul taxi drivers rallied in front of a city courthouse holding the first hearing on the case on Monday, holding up signs reading "We do not want the global thief Uber".

In their court action, the cabbies accuse Uber of running an unlicensed taxi service in Turkey and want the app banned. The next hearing was scheduled for June.

Tensions have risen in Istanbul, home to over 15 million people, since Uber entered the Turkish market in 2014. Some Uber drivers say they have been threatened and beaten by yellow cab drivers, an accusations the taxi industry denies.

Public sentiment on social media appears to be overwhelmingly in favor of Uber, with "#idon'tusetaxis" and "#don'ttouchuber" becoming trending topics in Turkish.

Some users of Uber have said they are fed up with what they call the rough manners and reckless driving of conventional cabbies, the circuitous, fare-inflating routes they take and the stench of cigarettes inside their vehicles.

Another user, Orhan, said that Uber drivers were more courteous and did not overcharge passengers.

Private broadcaster Haberturk reported last week that a group of taxi drivers recently hailed an Uber car and then beat the driver and damaged his vehicle.

"PLOTS AND PROVOCATIONS"

Such incidents are staged to sway public opinion and shape the outcome of the court case, according to Eyup Aksu, head of the Chamber of Istanbul Taxi Businesses, which represents around 50,000 taxi drivers with 18,000 licensed cabs.

"The reported incidents are plots and provocations done by Uber drivers in order to influence the case," Aksu said.

The issue has been escalated all the way to President Tayyip Erdogan, Aksu said, adding that the Interior Ministry was drafting regulations to foster a solution.

"If we do not get support politically, we will continue to repeat our stance to the politicians," he said.

No one was available for comment at the Interior Ministry.

Taxi drivers point to onerous costs they must pay but Uber does not. Number plates for taxis, required in Istanbul to drive a yellow cab cost around 1.5 million lira ($385,000), though in most cases a cabbie may "borrow" a plate from its owners for a monthly fee of 4,000-7,000 lira.

Uber said that about 2,000 yellow cab drivers use the Uber app to find customers, while another 3,000 work for UberXL, using large vans to transport groups to parties, or run people with bulky luggage to Istanbul's main airport.

It declined to reveal the number of Uber users in Turkey, where it operates in Istanbul, and in the resort towns of Bodrum and Cesme in the summer months.

"We are appalled by the violence and are doing everything we can to support (our) drivers," Uber said in an emailed statement, adding that it could not elaborate on the court case while it was still ongoing.

One Uber XL driver, Irfan Er, said a taxi driver threatened him with a knife one night last week as he was carrying passengers.

Friday, March 16, 2018

Taxi drivers have to put up with all kinds of abuse from disgruntled cyclist.

A cyclist known for his aggression towards London Taxi drivers, launched a horrendous attack on a lady Taxi driver, yesterday afternoon. The whole incident was recorded on a bus CCTV, behind the Taxi.

The bus driver has said he is a willing to be a witness to the attack. Police were called to the incident, but the cyclist ran off before they arrived.

Observers said, the cyclist approached the Licensed Taxi at the lights. He got off his bike and proceeded to smash both of the lady's wing mirrors. He then threw three punches towards the female Taxi drivers face, through the open window, as she sat terrified in her cab.

This is the face of the aggressor who is alleged to have launched the unwarranted attack on a female Cabby in Southwark Street by the lights with Great Suffolk Street.

The police have shown great interest in this unwarranted attack. They said "the cyclist is well known to us and will be easy to find".

The lady cabby was not far from her garage and after a phone call, a mechanic rushed to her assistance in his van.

The bus driver was very helpful telling her, the whole incident has been captured on the buses CCTV system.

By the time the police arrived, the despicable, cowardly cyclist had shot off.

If you see this man, please alert the police. The job's dangerous enough without having to put up with lunatics like this!